The Nats try to take this series from the Cardinals today at Busch Stadium.

There's a decent amount riding on today's series finale in St. Louis. For one thing, the Nationals are trying to maintain a winning record heading into this weekend's series in Pittsburgh. For another, they're trying to pull off their first series victory at Busch Stadium since 2007.

Tom Gorzelanny gets the ball for his third start of the season. The lefty has the worst numbers of anyone in the Nats' rotation (0-1, 5.56 ERA) but he's actually pitched pretty well. He struck out eight in his season debut against the Mets, then earned a quality start last week against the Brewers. He'll be attempting today to continue an impressive streak: Nationals starters have gone at least five innings in all 17 games this season, the only rotation in the majors to do that.

Ian Desmond (6 for his last 16) will hit fifth today for Jim Riggleman, with Michael Morse (slugging a paltry .209) hitting sixth. Have we mentioned how much this lineup really needs Ryan Zimmerman back?

As you know by now, I'm not on this road trip, so please enjoy the dialogue amongst yourselves…

I lost patience with Riggleman last year but I am starting to think that he was trying to play the game his way but just didn't have the players. This year he doesn't have as many defensive liabilites so the nutty double switches are gone – the ones we've gotten this year have made sense to me. Aggressive baserunning and bunting works when your players know what they're doing. And Morse's first 3 weeks are making Riggleman look like he was right all along about not wanting to play him as a regular. Maybe Morse wil prove him wrong eventually. I think Riggleman would be happy to be wrong about that one too.I think I'm actually jumping on the Riggleman bandwagon. (Then again, I'm fickle. I'll probably fall off quickly.)I still don't understand the Matt Stairs thing though. Between him and Broderick it's like we're playing with a 23-man roster. At least with the doubleheaders behind us Flores is available again on the bench.

This was mentioned casually by a post in the last article and I need clarification from Mark or some of our other experts. If/when Desmond goes on maternity leave, do we get a player exemption? and what exactly is that. I would love to see them move Espinosa to short and bring up Bixler to play 2nd and leave Hairston and Cora at 3rd. Bixler is hitting well and actually hit well all spring. He has made just one error after playing kind of sloppy in FLA. He can play several positions but the problem is obvious, he is not on the 40 man roster. If this "player exemption" exists that might be the answer. Looking forward to an answer and a series win against the Cards.go Nats!!

sjm308 said… This was mentioned casually by a post in the last article and I need clarification from Mark or some of our other experts. If/when Desmond goes on maternity leave, do we get a player exemption?Answer: Yes – we get to bring someone up for the two or three days he is gone and we don't need to send someone down. Once Desi is back, we need to remove a player off the roster and normal minor options apply.

As I said before, for me, the "glaring" hole in the lineup is Jason Werth. This is game 18, not game 8. He is being paid 126 MIL to hit and field, not to "mentor the kids." If the Nats want him to "mentor kids" then send Werth to the Little Leagues where there are PLENTY of kids! Werth's .206 batting average is beginning to hurt the team, especially in close games. Think 5-3.

sjm308 said… This was mentioned casually by a post in the last article and I need clarification from Mark or some of our other experts. If/when Desmond goes on maternity leave, do we get a player exemption?_______________________________If Desmond goes on MATERNITY leave, a player exemption will be the least of our worries…

@Anon 1:29Yeah, and the Braves should DFA Jason Heyward too because he's only hitting .190! Dan Uggla should also be benched (.194)The A's should dump Willingham (.200), the Red Sox should try and trade Crawford (.149) and Ellsbury (.182) and the Yankees should have a fire sale with Gardner (.128), Posada (.160) and Jeter (.219).Lighten up … they're not even 1/9th of the way thru the season and you're dumping on Werth already. That's like saying the home team is going to lose a game because the road team scored a run in the top of the first.

As to who would get the call up, there are only 4 position players left on the 40-man who are not on the 25-man – Marrero, Bernadina, Corey Brown and Bryce Harper. Considering they called up Flores over all those guys previously, I'm really curious as to what they're going to do here.If it coincides with this Sunday, which it looks like it might, maybe they call up Maya to make that spot start and play with a short bench. The only other person I could see realistically bringing up is Bernadina, which I would say is the most likely scenario.What do people think the chances are of them DFAing Chico or Severino to make room for Bixler?

I am getting the St. Louis tv crew on Extra Innings. Last night they talked at length aboutMorse, and his struggles. They said all you have to do is pitch him inside. They say he does not have the body speed to turn on those pitches, and definetly not the ones up and in. I hope they can get him to anticipate those pitches so he is not swinging late. ps I am vey glad we have Werth.

Hey all! I posted question late in the minor league thread, which may have escaped notice, but it's really bugging me: I was a decent sandlot athlete (when I was young, and still had knees), nothing more. I never had any trouble charging in on grounders, or tracking fly balls…it just seemed like a combination of instinct and co-ordination. Can somebody with more more experience, at a higher level of play, explain to me how relatively elite talent, like Desi and Niger (among so many others) can have so much difficulty with these seemingly instinctual abilities?I mean… Throwing and catching is the easy part, right?

Here's what I would like to see:Gaudin=DFAGorzolany to mop-upDEtwiler=5th starterBroderick to minors or return to Cards replaced by RodriguezBalester instead of Coffey not sure that will happen.Anybody else agree?

Exposremains – I would DFA Gaudin and Stairs. Broderick is an interesting one being a Rule 5. Again, if the manager has no confidence in you then it is time to go and Coffey has to be on a short leash.

I agree 2:59; with less then 2 out and a man on first I cringe when I see Pudge stride to the plate. Love the guy but hate the fact that, give the playing time, he'll easily lead the league in GIDP. Easily.

A $126 MILLION contract means you EXPECT MORE from a $126 MILLION MAN, so why can't I expect to SEE more at the plate??? I heard all that "happy talk" from you guys when it was "only 8 games" into the season. By game 18, the $126 MILLION MAN has got to start producing. Only Morse, Pudge, Hairston, Cora, and Stairs have a lower batting average than Werth. Great company. Except for the Z-man, Ramos, and Espinosa, this team is "toothless" at the plate. And who knows when the Z-Man will play again?! Wake up and smell the coffee!

OMG, Jack!!! I don't know how that got by me!! Doing too many things, when I should be working… That'll learn me to skip the preview. Nyjer goes by too many handles to keep straight, mebbe…. Help me out, though… Is it a silly question?

@ grandstander – I doubt it will be Bernadina, 9 SO's in 28 minor league ab's so far.Well, Bixler has 17 SO's in 46 minor league ab's. Personally, I'd like to see Mock DFA'd and Bixler brought up, but why put a guy on the 40-man if you don't need to? Bernadina getting a cup of coffee makes more sense.

Unkyd….your question is easy….you are correct in that the ability to read the ball off the bat is INSTINCTIVE…. some guys have it, most guys don't.Consider Desmond and Morgan among MOST guys. And to the "Med" reference…. be prepared to be lectured on the political correctness of insinuating the need for medical assistance.And how about my Broderick call earlier, huh?

For those paying attention, Broderick in his last 3 appearances is now: 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BB7 of those 9 outs were on ground balls. And it was facing the hearts of the Phillies and Cards orders.Yeah, we should totally DFA him…

Broderick has had only 2 outings (including spring training) where he has given up runs. And 3 of his runs were given up my Slaten and Gaudin as inherited runners in his first outing of the regular season.

NatsJack in Florida said… And how about my Broderick call earlier, huh? April 21, 2011 3:22 PM I don't think that was a tough call if you were watching on TV as they showed Broderick warming in the bullpen.

Grandstander said… For those paying attention, Broderick in his last 3 appearances is now: 7 of those 9 outs were on ground balls. And it was facing the hearts of the Phillies and Cards 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BBorders.Yeah, we should totally DFA him… April 21, 2011 3:25 PM 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 BB

Except I happen to know NatsJack saw lots of Broderick in ST, and knew that once he got past the Big League jitters, he would be worth pitching. Which he is. Don't forget that Flores was a Rule 5 guy, and now he is again a real deal, and soon to be our #2 catcher, or someone else's #1. I would love to see Bixler come up for a bit; betting it's Maya. We can't really use Bernie at the moment, I don't think. Gaudin — I know his numbers in the past dangle the hope that he could be terrific. Haven't seen hide nor hair of "terrific" yet.

The Ballestar of 2011 looks a lot like the one from 2010. Fewer throws at batters's heads is all. This is what everyone was screaming about during spring training?Desmond, Morse, Ballestar…I'm getting skeptical of people who say that we should expect improvement from these guys…

I've mentioned this before. Even with Zimmerman, this team will go through more periods with virtually not hitting than stretches when the bats are lively. This, perhaps, will be their biggest obstacle. They are what they are, too many old bats, Cora, Hairston, Pudge, Stairs, and weak ones, Morse, Ankiel. But I'm stating the obvious…UNTERP

Not turning on the team. Just stating the obvious. Opponents will learn quickly to pitch around a couple of their players to get to the weak ones.Small ball is the only means this team has to play on a regular basis, which too will be difficult to execute if they can't get on the base. Perhaps, except for Zimmerman, they don't have anyone on this roster to fear…UNTERP

Deitweiler has already proven himself at triple A. In 2009 he was excellent after being sent down. When he was brought up in September, he continued to be excellent. Then he was hurt. I'm not sure that Desi is the answer at short, but the two Chicago shortstops who are considered superb have the same (in one case) and more errors than Desmond in the other case. I wonder do their fans have the same attitude towards their shortstops as do a few people on this site. And offensively, in his rookie year, Desi had offensive stats that were as good as any in the American league, with the possible exception of said Ramirez.

Catching up with the thread postgame:TimDz: +1 re. leave for Desmond.NJ and DJ: I also love what Werth has brought to date.JD: re. fines for giving up hits after 0-2 count, okay, but only if we can also fine hitters for swinging at the first pitch after a hit and a walk have given us two much needed baserunners (where's a Kangaroo Court when you need it)?Meds comments, I won't lecture there. I do tend to speak up when brain disorders are used as a metaphor, but that's because of the struggles of a loved one rather than for PC reasons (but maybe that's TMI).JD again, point taken re. being 9-9 without Zimm, and I'll take it. Here's hoping that the bats heat up in Pittsburgh (and that pitching and defense hold up their ends).